


Begin Again

by EternalRedWolfe



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 03:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20057593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternalRedWolfe/pseuds/EternalRedWolfe
Summary: Modern Day. Taking in events up to and including Giles: Girl Blue.Giles worries that bad omens are abound, suspicions that are only increased by the appearance of a familiar face.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> **I lost the original chapter: this is similiar to it but, if I remember correctly, shorter.

_ October 31st, 2017 _

The crisp October wind whipped dead leaves around Giles ankles as he crouched down on the log. He pulled his collar up high around him and blew on his hands. 

“These are perfect.” The brunette approached him with a pile of large leaves, the only ones that were miraculously still alive in this weather. Giles glanced up at her, nodded and went back to warming his hands. “If you won’t help here, go back inside.”

“I don’t want to. "

“Why not?”

He sighed. “Because I’ll have to help inside.”

He stood up and leaned against a tree at the edge of the grove, staring up at the large house that loomed, domineering; cold-appearing, like many of Giles’ ancestors had been, but he knew that when he walked in, laughter and shouting and heavenly smells would encapsulate him. Halloween was a huge event in the Giles’ household. The big celebration used to be Mabon, on the Autumnal Equinox, to celebrate and honour the light that they had experienced the year before and prepare for the coming darkness. But since the Giles’ residence had become the de facto holiday home for ‘the Scoobies’ they had gradually transferred their big celebration to the Slayer’s quiet night, the witches’ New Year and Halloween. He glanced at his watch. Buffy and Faith would be arriving soon.

“What is it?”

He turned to his aunt. She had been a huge factor in his strength. He had always been closest to Vin, out of his whole family, after his mother and grandmother, but since he had come back, with an affinity for magic, he relied on her counsel, and abilities to ground him, more and more. He opened his mouth to tell her what was bothering him. All he could say was “I don’t know.”

It wasn’t a lie. Something was bothering him. He just couldn’t name it.

“Since Mabon?”

Giles looked her in the eyes. “How--“

“You’re not nearly the most powerful magic imbued being, Ripper. We’ve all felt it. Even the Slayers. Even Xander”

He pushed himself away from the tree and returned to the log. “So what is it?” he asked, sitting next to his aunt. She simply shrugged. “Right, and why haven’t we discussed this in 4 weeks, if everyone is aware of something?”

“Because we don’t know what. There’s been nothing like this for 8 years. If we start to worry, we’ll drown in what it might be.”

“So we’re just going to wait?”

“It’s not ideal. But it’s all we can do. We need to be careful.”

G iles gasped. “You’re advising caution!? It must be bad.”

“Enough with the cheek. Pick up some leaves. There’s a good boy.”

“Need help, dear old auntie?”

" A little less of the old, thank you.” Giles crouched on the ground and began searching for leaves for the ritual. Late that night, as midnight came closer and the flames of the bonfire soared, one by one the group gathered around threw in the leaves to the fire, remembering the passed loved ones, and making offerings to keep them safe.

The following morning, as they were tidying up the outside, Giles reached into the bonfire for something that caught his eye. He frowned at the unburnt leave and rushed into the house to consult his aunts. 

Halloween came and went. As did November 1st. As the clocks struck midnight, and November 2nd landed on London City, a young woman climbed up the steps of an old Georgian house, with no idea of how she came here; how she knew this place, the man inside; she wasn’t even sure he would know her. All she had were her memories and her name.


	2. Similar Differences

_ April 3rd, 2019, 2 am _

The dream came back. It wasn't scary.  _ Unsettling,  _ he though. "It was a memory, a series of memories, really," was how he had described it to his aunts and Willow. "We were in the library-"

"You now, or you then? If it's you now, we might have to go back," Willow groaned.

"Then; it felt like a memory." He explained the course of the dreams: something Hellmouth was taking place and they were researching. They figured it out and headed out to fight whatever needed fighting. Then he'd wake up.

His aunts had stared at him. "That's it?" his aunt asked, chewing a mango slice as she spoke.

Giles stared at her with disdain. "Yes."

"Maybe you miss being a middle-aged librarian?" Willow suggested.

Frustrated, Giles buried his head in his hands. "I don't. None of you are being helpful. Why am I having these dreams?"

The elder of his aunts patted his arm as she passed. "I wouldn't read too much into them, Ripper. 

Tonight, after waking from the dream, he lit some sandalwood scented incense sticks and pulled out the two crystals. Holding the small Tiger's eye in his hand he focused on his dream as he stared into the fluorite crystal, mulling over every little detail of the dream.

_ He looked up from the catalogue as the students milled into the library after the final bell of the day. Xander and Cordelia were sniping at each other again over something that had happened the night before that he would rather they kept to themselves; Willow was asking Oz questions about his gig the night before; Buffy was tossing a stake into the air swiftly and grabbing it effortlessly. _

_ "What's the sitch?" _

_ "Um, that symbol you found last night... I'm having some trouble identifying it." _

_ "We'll help," Willow offered, dropping her backpack on the floor before joining Giles and Buffy by the catalogue. _

_ "Uh, no thank you, I have to research a paper for Psych for tomorrow morning, it's going to take forever," Cordelia whined. "Where can I find absolutely anything on Hermann Ebbinghaus?" _

_ Giles didn't look up from the catalogue. "Psychology, second shelf back." He pointed in the general direction of the stacks she needed. _

_ "So, will the ladies be requiring any of my military skills for this big bad?" Xander asked, from where he sat at the study table. _

_ "Yeah, you can go get all the books we need and carry them all the way back here because our weak lady arms wouldn't be able to handle the weight." Buffy smiled at him as she snapped the stake in half. Cordelia laughed at him as she claimed a seat at the head of the table with her books. She began reading and making notes without any more attention paid to the group and their demon hunting ways. _

_ The group scattered to their most comfortable studying nooks: Giles to his office, Buffy nestled into the armchair near the study desk, Willow took up the counter with her array of books, Xander and Cordelia stayed at the study table, and as the sun set Oz locked himself into the book cage, waiting for the change to happen. _

_ When he looked up again hours had passed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, catching a glimpse of Buffy saying something to the recently arrived Angel, and the a complaining Cordelia following him to the stacks. _

_ Buffy caught his eye and walked up to him. "We have more muscle if we need it." _

_ "I'm afraid we might." _

_ He explained to the group about the demon, a mid-level lackey for a much more dangerous player whose intent was to open the hellmouth. _

The dream ended.

Giles blinked. Once, twice. Slowly, then faster, to pull himself out of his daze without giving himself too much of a headache. He dropped the tiger's eye and ran his hands over his face. For a few minutes, he played through the dream again and again until his alarm clock sounded. He shoved the crystals back under the bed and rolled to his feet. He stood under the cold shower long enough to wake himself up, dried off and dressed. 

In the darkness, with the only light at three in the morning coming from the light seeping in from the street light, he stared at himself in the mirror. Small lines emanated from the corners of his eyes, the only indication that Angel's resurrection spell didn't go entirely well. He turned his head from side to side, opened his mouth. Was Willow right? Were these dreams stemming from some life crisis he was experiencing? His life wasn't all bad these days, it had been worse at the start, when he was a man in a boy's body but once he reached a certain age, he didn't mind reaping the rewards of his newfound youth.

The alarm sounded again and Giles grabbed his jacket that kept his stakes and headed out. Twenty minutes later he nodded to Clem as he pushed his way in a back door of Temple, the demon friendly, no fighting club on Strand Lane near King’s College. It was for a few hours and then he was heading to the Council.

He hopped up behind the bar. "Sorry I'm late," he said to the demon behind the bar, "dreams again."

"Well, I'm always happy to help, if you'd let me."

Giles took the order of vampire and poured his a large glass of B negative with vodka. "I already told you about them."

"Not what I meant."

"I'm not singing for you, Lorne."

The green skinned, red-horned Pylean demon turned to the former Watcher, a twinkle in his eye.

_ 8am _

With a slice of toast between her teeth, she brushed out the tangles in her hair. When she reached the vanity table, she took the toast out of her mouth, putting it onto the coffee cup that stood next to her lipsticks, chewed on what remained of the slice in her mouth, licked the sweet strawberry jam off her fingers, which she then swiped on a towel to clean and twisted her long dark hair around and piled it on top of her head into a large bun.

She surveyed herself in the mirror, like she did most mornings, especially if she was in a rush. She looked the same as she did the night before, her eyes were the same. She turned her head to the side and pressed her beauty mark; smiled her bright smile.

Satisfied, she grabbed her bag and jacket and headed out the door.

Yes, she was still Cordelia Chase. 


End file.
